Shobudani Mizu Asagi

Here’s a rather large Shobudani Mizu Asagi that’s also very hard
and super fine.

This is my kind of Honyama; while not everyone enjoys the
harder stones – they’re my #1 choice for honing razors.

Don’t get me wrong, softer stones are also fantastic in
their own right and I use a good number of stones that are not quite as hard as
this one here. Each stone has its own personality, and when I select a stone to
work with, I look for one that matches my mood first. Harder stones are more
difficult and challenging to work with, and I enjoy that level of
engagement.

This Shobu is a killer razor hone; it performs wickedly well
with Mikawa Shiro Nagura progressions as well as high-quality Tomo Nagura. The
color is Asagi, or ‘green’ but it’s more of a darker type of Mizu grey/blue.
The subtle cloud-like pattern is visible when dry, but it really pops when it’s
wet as you see in the top photo.

Feedback – fairly quiet but clear enough to read. This is a
very ‘smooth’ stone that will bring up a very high-polish type of haze. It’s
medium slow, or medium fast, depending on your point of view – I like to say it’s
on the slower side of things, which is also a huge preference for me. I like to
sneak up on the edge and stones like this let me do just that fairly easily.

The shape is good, nearly a perfect rectangle; the sides are
very true and the bottom is pretty flat and stable on the bench. It’s a thicker
and heavier stone, so - while hand-holding is possible, this one’s probably
best used on a Dai of some sort.

It’s sealed all around with 4 coats of a custom-mixed
burnt-orange/red Cashew Lacquer and the top is lapped.